Big League Baseball in a Small Town: Metuchen, NJ in 1936 Richard J. Puerzer Hofstra University Every small town in the United States has some of its own baseball stories to tell. Either the town can attest that one of its sons went on to greatness in the major leagues, as St. Andrews, Pennsylvania, can claim of Nellie Fox or Humboldt, Kansas, can claim of Walter Johnson. Or perhaps Babe Ruth or Satchel Paige played at a local and perhaps forgotten sandlot back in the 1920’s or 1930’s as they barnstormed around the country. Metuchen, New Jersey, a small borough located in the central part of the state, likewise has its own slice of baseball history. Spread over the summer of 1936, the residents of Metuchen were able to see several extraordinary displays of big league baseball in their very own backyard. And, remarkably, the games would feature Hall of Fame talent from both the Major and Negro Leagues. It is enlightening to look back on a time when great baseball teams made their way across the country, providing fans the opportunity to see glorious baseball in their hometown. Metuchen, New Jersey, is essentially a bedroom community of New York City, owing to the fact that it is located along the Northeast corridor train line connecting Philadelphia and New York. Due to its accessibility and small town appeal, Metuchen has long been the home of many New York based writers, literary editors, and engineers. The town proudly bears the nickname the “Brainy Boro” for the many full-time residents throughout its history renown for their excellence in a variety of endeavors. These include Henry Mill Auden, managing editor of Harper’s Weekly for over 50 years; Julia Hart Beers Kempson, one of the first women landscape painters in the United States; and

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Lewis Nixon, responsible for the construction of the Holland, the first U.S. Navy submarine.1 Although the town has quite a proud heritage, it can claim only one Major League baseball player as a son. Ed Buckingham, born in Metuchen in 1874, pitched in but one big league game, giving up two runs on six hits and two walks in three innings of pitching work for the 1895 Washington Nationals.2 Despite the lack of representatives from Metuchen in the major leagues, the summer of 1936 was one to remember in the baseball history of the town. In that summer, the town’s semi-pro baseball team took on several great teams electing to visit the small New Jersey town. Amazingly, these teams who took on the Metuchen nine featured a total of nine future Hall of Fame members as well as many more other great and memorable players. According to the Metuchen Recorder, the Metuchen nine got their season started on the fourteenth of May, 1936, with a game against the American Legion team from the nearby town of Woodbridge. The Recorder reported that the local aggregation was led by player-manager Ed “Blackie” Regan and included other forgotten local sandlot luminaries such as “Rabbit” Jacobsen, “Boots” Pengator, Johnny Zalinsky, and “Peg” Rankin. Pitching duties for that game and throughout the season went to “local flinger” “Bud” Humphries, who was reported to have just returned to Metuchen after two seasons with Binghamton of the New York-Penn League and previous stints with Norfolk of the Piedmont League and Akron of the Mid-Atlantic League. The game against Woodbridge ended in a 3-3 tie, with the game called after six and a half innings due to darkness. In previewing the remainder of this new baseball season for the local nine, the article in the Recorder promised that the newly renovated field would be unique in that it would be

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lighted for night play for any important games. Also, in advertising the next upcoming game, it was reported that a “strong colored team” would be the next opponent for the local squad.3 The term “strong” severely underestimated the abilities of that opponent, the Newark Eagles, who played against Metuchen on May 21st. The Eagles, out of the Negro National League, featured three future Hall of Famer players: third baseman Ray Dandridge, shortstop Willie “The Devil” Wells, first baseman “Mule” Suttles, and pitcher Leon Day (who did not appear in the game). Although the 1937 edition of the team would later be thought of as one of the best in Negro League history, the 1936 team was obviously an outstanding group of players. The Newark Eagles were owned by Abe Manley and were run by his wife Effa, one of the most influential and interesting executives in the history of the Negro Leagues. The Manleys took over ownership of the Brooklyn Eagles in 1935 and merged them with the Newark Dodgers in 1936.4 The game against Metuchen was thus one of the first games for “new” Newark Eagles. The two best players from the Eagles who appeared in the game, Dandridge and Wells, are considered by many to have been among the best players of all time at their respective positions. Dandridge, Wells, and Suttles formed three-quarters of what was referred to as the “million-dollar infield” of the Newark Eagles, and, at least on the left side, were one of the best infields of all time.5 Ray Dandridge was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1987 and is considered by most experts, including Bill James, to have been the best third basemen in Negro League history.6 Dandridge was short, at 5’7”, stocky, and bowlegged, but was an extremely fast and gifted fielder. At the age of 36 and after sixteen seasons in black baseball, Dandridge

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was signed in 1949 by the Triple A Minneapolis Millers, a minor league affiliate of the New York Giants. In his time with the Millers, Dandridge won the league’s most valuable player award for 1950 and roomed with a young Willie Mays, but he remained a victim of segregation as he was never promoted to the Major League team.7 Regarded among the greatest shortstops in Negro League history, Willie Wells was elected to the hall of fame in 1997. Wells did everything well on the diamond except throw, but he was considered far from weak on the field due to his raw speed and exhaustive knowledge of the opposing batters. Wells had great power for a middle infielder, hitting for high home run totals in the relatively short Negro National League seasons. Impressive throughout his entire career in Black, Mexican, and Latin American baseball, Wells is listed at #86 in Bill James list of the one hundred greatest players of all time.8 For thirty cents, one could buy his or her way into the 6:15 p.m. twilight game between the Metuchen Baseball Club and The Newark Eagles and witness the play of these future Hall of Famer players. The game was a slugfest, in which the Eagles prevailed 14-13 in a six-inning game. Hits were plentiful in the game, with the Metuchen team gaining 17 hits in 35 at bats, including five doubles and a “freak homerun when a long hit to centerfield was lost in the tall grass near the east fence.” The Eagles, who scored in all six innings played, knocked star pitcher Humpheries out of the box in the third inning. The speedy and powerful Negro League team had 13 hits in 33 at bats, with four doubles, including those by Wells, Dandridge, and Suttles, as well as two triples.9 In retrospect, the Metuchen squad, in losing by only one run, held its own against a team featuring some of the greatest players of all time.

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Following the game against the Eagles, Metuchen played three other barnstorming teams made up of all African American players, although no other of these teams was of the quality of the Newark aggregation. On June 4th they took on the Brooklyn Royal Giants, a team featuring quality players in outfielder “Crush” Holloway and pitcher Jake Beckwith. Brooklyn held off the local bunch by a score of 6-5.10 Metuchen would then go on to defeat the Detroit Clowns 7-2 on June 20th in the first game played under the lights in Metuchen.11 The Clowns were a team as well known for “entertainment” as for the quality of their game. In encouraging attendance at the game, the Clowns were described by the local press as a team “adept at getting a laugh out of the bleachers” and in past years had been “garbed in their colorful clown suits.”12 As can be seen by these comments, African American teams were often forced to entertain with more than just their baseball prowess. Next up for Metuchen were the Bacharach Giants of Atlantic City on June 29th. The Giants, including Paul Dixon, brother of the great Negro League outfielder “Rap” Dixon, beat the Metuchen nine by a score of 9-6.13 After going 1-3 against this string of teams made up of African-Americans, two other barnstorming teams of note made their way to Metuchen. The Hawaiian All-Stars were the next team to take on the local squad. The Hawaiian team, which was actually composed of Hawaiian, Chinese, and Japanese players, laid claim to the fact that they had played Babe Ruth’s “All Americans” on Ruth’s team’s barnstorming trip to the Eastern hemisphere.14 The local team got the better of their opponents the night of July 6th, winning 7-5. The next opponent for Metuchen was the “be-whiskered tossers” of the House of David Team. All ten men who appeared in the game for the House of David team scored

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a run in the game as they trounced Metuchen by a score of 19-6 on July 13th.15 Perhaps the Metuchen team was looking ahead one week, for the most anticipated game of the season was on the horizon. The semi-pro baseball team from the little town of Metuchen would be taking on the world famous Gas House Gang of the St. Louis Cardinals. To this point, stories regarding the Metuchen baseball club were relegated to the sports section of the local newspaper. The game with the Cardinals, however, was frontpage news. The importance of baseball in American culture at this point in history was evident in the statement made in the Metuchen Recorder anticipating the game with the Cardinals. The front-page article pronounced that, “one of the outstanding events in Metuchen history, not only in the annals of sports, but of general importance as well, will transpire this Monday, July 20th.” The article went on to state that over 5,000 fans from across the state are expected to attend the game, “while other cities in the area will cast envious glances at the prize which has been brought to the borough.” It was also reported with great civic pride that opposing the famed Cardinal hitters would be Metuchenite hurler Bert Humphries.16 Exhibition games of this sort were not uncommon for big league clubs during the years of the Great Depression, as they were an additional source of revenue for teams. The Cardinals, run by owner Sam Breadon and vice president Branch Rickey, played a great many of these exhibitions, much to the chagrin of Cardinal players.17 The St. Louis Cardinals of 1936 were a strong team made up of most of the original members of the famed Gas House Gang. This Cardinal team was renown not only for their success, which included winning the World Series in 1934, but also for their wide open, knock-down, drag-out manner of play. The team featured five future

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members of the Hall of Fame: Joe “Ducky” Medwick, Johnny “The Big Cat” Mize, Frankie Frisch, Leo Durocher (who was inducted into the Hall of Fame based on his managerial career), and Jerome “Dizzy” Dean (who did not pitch in the game against Metuchen). The team also featured other holdovers from the Gas House Gang such as “Pepper” Martin, “Rip” Collins, and Paul Dean. Although the Cardinals would finish the 1936 season five games behind the pennant winning New York Giants, they were in contention throughout most of the season. In fact, the Cardinals took the season series from all of the teams in the National League save for the lowly sixth place Boston Bees (more commonly know as the Boston Braves). Legendary baseball writer Frederick Lieb observed in his history of the Cardinals that “despite unforeseen happenings, the Cardinals could have won if they had enjoyed greater success against these pestiferous Bees.”18 Joe Medwick, hailing from Carteret, New Jersey, a town located just down the road from Metuchen, was in the midst of a particularly stellar season. He finished with a .351 average while leading the league with 64 doubles, 138 runs batted in, and 367 total bases (outdistancing Mel Ott by an impressive margin of 53 bases). His mark of 64 doubles, set that season, still stands as the National League single season record. Medwick would go on to have an equally successful offensive season the following year and win the triple crown. Part-time first baseman on the club, Johnny Mize was enjoying his first season in the Major Leagues. “The Big Cat” finished fifth in the home run race with 19 round trippers and hit 30 doubles while playing in only 126 games, establishing himself as one of the best power hitter in the league. The 1936 Cardinals were clearly an exceptional team.

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The Cardinals played Metuchen on July 20th, stopping by on their trip between St. Louis and New York. The Cards had just completed a twelve-game homestand the previous day with a doubleheader sweep of the Boston Bees. The Cardinals won both ends of the double-bill handily with scores of 8-1 and 7-2. With 86 games under their belt, the Cards were sporting an impressive 53-33 record and were only one game behind the Cubs for first place in the National League. After playing Metuchen, the Cardinals were heading to New York to begin a seventeen game road swing.19 The biggest baseball game in Metuchen’s history was to be played under the lights, beginning at 9:00 p.m. Six thousand seats were made available, with tickets going for $1.10 for the good seats and 55 cents for seats in the outfield. Fans were encouraged to come to the game early so that they might enjoy the pre-game musical program. It was reported that the Cardinals arrived on the 6:45 p.m. train to a railroad station jammed with fans and admirers. The entire roster made themselves available for autographs before the game, with the Dean brothers, Frankie Frisch, George Earnshaw, Leo Durocher, and Joe Medwick “most in demand to lay their John Henry (sic) on the dotted line.” Many of the fans focused their attention on local boy Medwick, perhaps seeing him play for the first time in years. Peanuts and soda pop were reportedly in big demand, with the entire stock of both sold out before the end of the game. The big game was all that the players and fans of the Metuchen Baseball Club could have desired. Their star pitcher and local product, “Bud” Humphries, went the distance while striking out eight, walking two, and overcoming five errors behind him in the field. The Metuchen batsmen were also up to the challenge, collecting seventeen hits, including seven doubles, and walking once. Meanwhile, the Cards did not lie down on

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offense, pounding out five doubles, including three by catcher Bruce Ogrodoski, and six singles. When the dust had cleared late in that steamy mid-summer night in New Jersey, the local boys had defeated the former World Champion St. Louis Cardinals by the score of 10-7.20 The journalist covering the story for the Metuchen Recorder pointed to several reasons behind the local boys’ defeat of the big league squad. First and foremost, it was reported that “the local team assembled represented the pick of New Jersey’s semi-pro talent, and that the boys were on their toes just aching for a chance to do something important.”21 Although earlier in the season the Metuchen team featured a few marginal former major league players, none of the players on the team who defeated the Cardinals would ever ascend to the majors. Also, the local scribe reminded readers that the Metuchen players were accustomed to playing under the lights while the Cards were not, providing another home field advantage. Night baseball played under lights, still very limited in use, had been introduced to the Major Leagues in 1935 by the Cincinnati Reds. The Cardinals would not play night games at home until 1940. The local newspaper writer was indignant when “some wise guys went home saying that the Cardinals laid down to give the locals a break.” He pointed out that both Cardinal pitchers, Bill Walker and Flint Rhem, were “first string veterans and top notch tossers.” Both men had been good pitchers; Rhem was a former twenty-game winner, and Walker had pitched in the All-Star game the previous season. However, the local scribe failed to point out that the 35 year old Rhem, who relieved Walker to start the sixth and proceeded to give up five runs to the local team, had started the second game of the doubleheader the previous day. Rhem was something of a double header specialist in

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this, his last season, with all four of his starts for the season coming in double headers. It would turn out that this would be the last season in the big leagues for both Bill Walker and Flint Rhem. The Cardinals would have no problems with their pitching the following day, with Dizzy Dean dueling the Giants’ Carl Hubbell in a 2-1 loss. It is clear why the Cardinal players would have been unhappy with playing an exhibition game such as this. With the game starting at 9 p.m., it could not have ended until around 11 p.m. The weary Cardinal team would then have to make their way by train from Metuchen into New York City, where they would travel to their non airconditioned hotel. There, they would be able to collect what little rest they could before rousing themselves the following morning in preparation for facing their National League rivals, the Giants, and Giants’ pitching ace, Carl Hubbell. Exhibition games such as these surely took their toll on the strength and stamina of the Cardinals, perhaps even costing them the pennant. Regardless of the quality and motivation of the Cardinal play, Metuchen pitcher Bud Humphries must have made an impression on Cardinals player-manager Frankie Frisch. A few weeks after the game, Humphries was signed to a minor league contract with the Redbirds. He signed with Columbus of the American Association, the top of the vast Cardinal minor league system, for the remainder of the season. It was reported, with great optimism, that if he made good in the closing days of the season, Humphries would report to the Cardinals for spring training the following spring.22 However, Humphries never did make it to the big leagues. Oddly, the Metuchen Recorder reported no other games being played by the Metuchen team that summer. Perhaps the team realized that they could achieve nothing

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better than to beat one of the best Major League teams. When all was said and done that summer, the many great teams the Metuchen team played and the admirable performance of the hometown team could have disappointed neither players nor fans. And, never before and never again would such an amazing group of great baseball talent make its way to Metuchen to play baseball. To have been a baseball fan in that summer of 1936 and to see all of that incredible talent right there in your backyard must have been a true and unforgettable joy.

Richard J. Puerzer is an Associate Professor of Engineering and the Chairperson of the Engineering Department at Hofstra University, where he has taught since 1996. He has researched, presented, and written on a broad array of baseball topics and his work has been published in the journals: Nine, The National Pastime, The Proceedings of the Cooperstown Symposium on Baseball and American Culture, Spitball, and Fan. He presented the Spring 2003 Hofstra University Distinguished Faculty Lecture on Engineering and Baseball. He has also published work in the fields of engineering education and radio frequency identification technology applications. He is a member of the Society for American Baseball Research. The author can be contacted at: [email protected] Notes: 1. Spies, Stacy E., Metuchen (Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing, 2000), pp. 7-8. 2. DiClerico, James M. and Pavelec, Barry, J., The Jersey Game: The History of Modern Baseball from its Birth to the Big Leagues in the Garden State (New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1991), pg. 242. 3. Metuchen Recorder, May 14, 1936. 4. Clark, Dick and Lester, Larry, eds., The Negro Leagues Book (Cleveland, OH: Society for American Baseball Research, 1994), pg. 27. For additional information on the team and especially on Effa Manley, see Essington, Amy, “‘She Loved Baseball’: Effa Manley and Negro League Baseball” in The Cooperstown Symposium on Baseball and American Culture 2000, ed. William M. Simons (Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2001), pp. 275-295. 5. Riley, James A., The Biographical Encyclopedia of the Negro Baseball Leagues (New York: Carroll and Graf, 1994), pg. 210.

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6. James, Bill, The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract (New York: The Free Press, 2001), pg. 184. 7. Peterson, Robert, Only the Ball Was White: A History of Legendary Black Players and All-Black Professional Teams (New York: Gramercy Books, 1999), pp. 235-236. Also, an excellent description of the slow integration of the NY Giants is given by Treder, Steve, “A legacy of What Ifs: Horace Stoneham and the Integration of the Giants,” Nine: A Journal of Baseball History & Culture, Vol. 10, No. 2 (Spring 2002), pp. 71-101. 8. James, The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract, pg. 367. 9. Metuchen Recorder, May 28, 1936. 10. Metuchen Recorder, June 11, 1936. 11. Metuchen Recorder, June 25, 1936. 12. Metuchen Recorder, June 18, 1936. 13. Metuchen Recorder, July 2, 1936. 14. Ibid. 15. Metuchen Recorder, July 16, 1936. 16. Ibid. 17. Alexander, Charles C., Breaking the Slump: Baseball in the Depression Era (New York: Columbia University Press, 2002), pg. 87. 18. Lieb, Frederick G., The St. Louis Cardinals: The Story of a Great Baseball Club (New York: Putnam, 1944, Reprinted by Southern Illinois University Press, 2001), pp. 177-178. 19. Information on the Major League game scores, standings, and schedules were provided by Retrosheet, which can be accessed at www.retrosheet.org. 20. Metuchen Recorder, July 23, 1936. 21. Ibid. 22. Metuchen Recorder, August 27, 1936.

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